We have been using this device for a couple weeks now. We got it through work, and it's very solid. Battery life is surprising, the screen works well and the connection has been snappy. Very handy device that has worked well on the road. It comes at a cost of course, fortunately we're not paying for it, but as a work expense it makes sense to have the convenience of everywhere connectivity to allow for work when you would otherwise would be twiddling your thumbs in traffic, terminal, etc.

I stay away anything that has to do with contracts and heavy limitations for their convenience. May be a great hotspot but let me guess, should cost more than your typical brick. If their functions are solely for providing data (as with smartphones) then why would I want a fancier one for higher cost? By the way, once you paid your data, it's all yours. Why would I have to pay extra for tethering? Does it not matter if you access data through your phone, tablet or pentium box? I simply root the device, flash the bloat the providers put on (along with restrictions and phone home notifications) and your off to charge free tethering, your data, your usage however you'd like, period.

Do any of the touch screen menus allow you to choose a specific carrier while roaming? As a frequent traveller, this is the killer feature I need in my next Mifi-device... Hell, I'd be happy if i could even find that feature in a web menu somewhere.

Five gigs for $50/month is the same thing AT&T charges for the 5 gig/month plan for iPhones, with personal hotspot enabled. If you have a smartphone, it'd seem to render the plan for the Liberate pretty much redundant.

What if you want to use a Liberate to get rid of your phone, though? Hang, say, an iPod touch off your Liberate hotspot, running Talkatone using your Google Voice number? Then you're still paying the same for data, granted, but you're not paying for a voice plan any more. Anyone been doing that? I've been seriously considering diving in to see if it's viable.

I'm curious about the speed tests, and maybe I missed something. There's no independent baseline there for the relative speeds of the AT&T and Verizon networks at the test site (same physical site, I would hope). So, how do we know that the tests are not actually, in part or in full, network speed tests? The consistently better signal strength shown by the MiFi might also be a tip there; did the Verizon hotspot look worse due to poor signal strength that resulted in packet retransmission, etc.? It might be a bit painful to get such data points but without them, we have to wonder how the devices would compare on a truly level playing field.

The physical form factor may be a problem for some people - I've seen personal mobile hotspots attached to the backs of laptop screens, for example, with Velcro (hook & loop). That cylindrical battery compartment is a stand-off there, perhaps forcing the user to leave it laying loose somewhere. Not a huge deficit, perhaps, and a battery life trade-off. One of the zillions of YMMV factors, I guess.

Looks quite cute; I use a Huawei E586 HSPA+ MiFi dongle for my home Internet access (on 3) and it's a perfectly serviceable way to work; the only irritation I have with it is the arbitrary limit of 5 (from memory) devices that can connect to it at a time. I get about 5Mb/s through it sustained, peak can be a little better than that, so it's adequate for my needs.

Curious to know if there is a connected device limit with this?

$50 for 5GB is madness though, I pay $30/month for 15GB (including device cost/taxes/etc. - total bill is £18.98/month.)

I note that EE have LTE coverage in my area though and their prices are similar to AT&Ts - which I put down to lack of competition. Don't think I'll be bothering to upgrade to LTE until the other networks have their LTE services online later this year - hopefully that'll drive prices back down to sensible. The only time I feel the need for faster service than I already have is when the PS3 decides it wants to download a 500MB patch before I can play a game...

I'm with divisionbyzero, if they can pump the data plan up (or cost down) I could dump Time Warner Cable's ISP service. I get roughly 10/1 speed service for $55 a month now but I need enough data plan for Netflix.

Flo, if possible, I would recommend switching the hotspot comparison to another AT&T unit. As much as the comparison shows the AT&T MiFi in good light, it doesn't really tell us anything except for the quality of the carriers in that spot (possibly affected by device performance/capability too). Perhaps consider using two different AT&T units and connect a phone to them as the test device, and as a baseline, test the phone using its own cellular connection.

I was thinking this would be great for the boat we just bought, but yeah, the $50/month price plan is stupid. I'll just stick with my iPhone, and occasionally borrow my wife's iPad, since she was forward thinking enough to get the 4G model.

It appears from their web site that AT&T doesn't consider $50 to be expensive. Telling the web site I want to buy a Liberate and a data plan results in a page that tells me "There are no plans of this type that are compatible with: AT&T Mobile Hotspot MiFi® Liberate". Instead it offers me a variety of "AT&T Mobile Share Device Data Plans"; the closest match to the $50/5 plan that appears to actually be available to a non-business customer is $90 a month for 4 GB (or $110 a month for 6 GB), with excess data charged at $15/GB. Makes $50/month look pretty good. (It appears that the $50/5 plan is available to business customers; I have no idea how difficult it is for individuals to access AT&T business data plans.)

Do any of the touch screen menus allow you to choose a specific carrier while roaming? As a frequent traveller, this is the killer feature I need in my next Mifi-device... Hell, I'd be happy if i could even find that feature in a web menu somewhere.

Its a joke no?"Lastly, new AT&T customers can get a 5GB data plan for the Liberate for $50 a month."

$50 a month for 5GB? ha ha ha ha ha ha...

Two movies in a weekend and your month is shot. The promise of 4G from greedy (there's no other word to describe them) companies like AT&T.

While I can certainly see that use case for someone who travels constantly, wouldn't it make more sense for the majority of people to buy or rent movies at home and transfer them to the device in question for viewing on the road?

Not that I don't agree that data plans are absurdly overpriced - they are. I'm just referring to usage optimization.